Main Equipment
Almost all unit procedure types assume that the operations set to execute in their sequence order are carried out in a host equipment resource (the’ Transportation’ and the ‘Design Spec’ procedures are the only exception and have no host equipment). The name of the equipment resource associated with a unit procedure is, by default, displayed as part of the name label under the procedure’s icon. The actual type of equipment resource is automatically selected by the program once a procedure type is selected. For example, once you select to introduce a new condensation procedure (under } } ), then click on the worksheet the new procedure is automatically assigned an equipment resource of type ‘Condenser’ with the name ‘HX-101’. As soon as a new procedure is created, SuperPro Designer always creates a new equipment resource behind it. You can customize the prefix (‘HX-’) and the default numbering scheme used by the application when composing the name of new equipment resources (see Automatic Procedure Name Generation).
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Do not confuse the pictorial view of the icons on the flowsheet (they look like equipment units) with their representational meaning: they represent processing steps and not equipment. We have made the procedure icons reminiscent of their hosting equipment resource types in order to better convey visually the unit procedure type of each icon. Since equipment resources are not directly represented on the flowsheet, the unit procedure icon represents the graphical user interface gateway to addressing the equipment resource behind the procedure. That is why the command menu (right-click menu) of a unit procedure contains entries related to data about the equipment hosting the procedure (, ., etc).
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Equipment Features
It is possible to have two procedures of the same type (e.g. Storage in a Disposable Large Bag) be displayed by icons that may be slightly different. The difference in the iconic representation of the procedures may be due to a different set of equipment features that may be selected for the respective equipment resources. For example, one of them may be set to allow for heating/cooling exchange to happen with a heat transfer agent whereas the other may be set to allow for continuous stirring. Such equipment features (if available) are always selected from the first property page of the Equipment Dialog. Besides dictating the specific icon displayed for that procedure, a feature set may also dictate the availability of certain operations in the hosted procedure(s). For example, if a heating/cooling jacket is set to be available, then “Cool” and/or “Heat” may be an operation choice, but if this feature is not selected, then they may not be available.
Sizing (Design vs Rating Mode)
When assigning an equipment resource to a newly created procedure, the program assumes that the size of the engaged equipment resource is not known. As part of the simulation calculations, the application will also size the equipment resource so that it can accommodate the needs for capacity (or throughput) of the most demanding amongst the operations included in the procedure. For example, as we charge more and more material in a vessel the needs for capacity keep increasing. the program will keep track of the demand and at the end of the procedure it will size the equipment such that it fits all of the charged material. When the equipment resource is set to be sized by the program, we call it being in Design Mode. On the other hand, when the user already knows the size of the engaged equipment resource (e.g. he/she knows that the hosting vessel has a given capacity or size dimensions) then, he/she needs to switch the equipment to Rating Mode. When in this mode, the dimensions (or other related size specifications) of the equipment resource are available for editing in the equipment dialog and should be provided by the user. The choice between design vs rating mode can be made from the Equipment tab of the Equipment Dialog. Even though the entire arrangement of the tab depends on the specific equipment resource type (Vessel, Filter, Chromatography Column, etc.) the left side of all interfaces is always the same (the Equipment Data Dialog: Equipment tab). When the equipment is being sized by the application after the mass and energy balance calculations (i.e. it is set to design mode) there will always be a variable that provides an upper limit on the size, in order to keep the actual sizes realistic. For example, when sizing a vessel, the user must always provide a maximum volume; when sizing a membrane filter, the user must provide a maximum membrane area. If the size that is required to accommodate the operations hosted by the equipment exceeds the maximum value, then SuperPro Designer will assume the presence of multiple pieces of equipment, all with identical sizes and within the available range. This multiple number of units are shown on the equipment dialog as ‘Number of Units’ and they are assumed to operate in parallel when the equipment host is engaged. When the equipment is in rating mode, this field is open and can be set by the user.
Selection & Sharing
In batch processing, in order to make best use of equipment resources that may be sitting idle, it is quite common to have more than one processing steps (that are part of the same batch or different batches) execute in the same hosting equipment. Very commonly, storage vessels are used to hold outputs from various steps of the process until the next step processes the material. Also, filtration units or chromatography units may be utilized during various stages of the batch. Sharing of equipment across batches can also be feasible, which means equipment can be utilized by the same processing steps at different instances of the same batch. Clearly, such reuse saves on extra equipment but at the same time imposes a constraint on the times that each of those procedures may be carried out since their engagement times cannot overlap.
1. Create the two procedures (e.g. P-1, and P-2). Each one will be assumed to have its own (new) equipment resource (e.g. V-101 and V-102).
2. Visit the Equipment Data Dialog of the second procedure (by selecting the option from the procedure’s command menu).
3. At the top left corner of the Equipment Data Dialog: Equipment tab, select (from the drop-down list) the name of the first equipment resource (V-101), and click OK.
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In general two procedures of the same type are assumed to be hosted by the same type of equipment resource and therefore they can be made to share a common equipment instead of each one utilizing its own. However, if the equipment resource is characterized by features (see Equipment Features) then in order for a procedure to be allowed to relinquish its own equipment and assume the equipment of another procedure (of the same type), the operation list must also be compatible with the feature set of the surviving equipment resource.
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In cases where several procedures share the same equipment resource, the application displays several time measures that can gauge how efficiently the resource is being utilized within the same batch as well as across batches. To better understand the utilization of an equipment resource, a few measures of time need to be defined such as the recipe cycle time, the equipment occupancy time, the equipment unoccupied time, the equipment busy time, the equipment waiting time and the equipment idle time. For a definition of these terms, please see Scheduling Terms & Definitions. The above measures for a given equipment are shown on the equipment dialog. To gain a general overview of how all of your equipment resources are being utilized during a process in a table or chart format, please select } } to display the Main Equipment Occupancy Data Table or } } . to display the Main Equipment Occupancy Data Chart.
Equipment Use Across Batches
There are cases when an equipment resource may be used by several procedures (during the span of a batch) but there may be long periods of time between each such utilization. Normally, during the long idle in-between-usage time, SuperPro Designer considers the equipment ‘occupied’ (to preserve batch integrity) and does not allow any follow-up batches to engage it. If a user didn’t care for batch integrity, he/she could allow a designated equipment to be used by a procedure of a follow-up batch before all utilizations of the current batch ended. This practice may lead in better overall equipment utilization but at the expense of increasing the possibilities of equipment sharing violations. In order to allow the program to utilize an equipment resource in this manner, you must check the “Allow Use Across Batches” flag in the Equipment Data Dialog: Scheduling Tab. Obviously this option is only meaningful for equipment which is shared by more than one procedures. As this tighter integration of equipment utilization can lead to more situations where equipment violations may occur, we need to have a much more sophisticated algorithm that predicts which cycle time result in such violations. SuperPro Designer has such algorithm that can produce the cycle time windows that avoid sharing violations (see Scheduling Constraints). The Recipe Cycle Time (RCT) Bounds Calculation can be triggered from the Recipe Scheduling Information Dialog.
Staggered Mode
As explained in detail in the scheduling calculations (see Scheduling Calculations) the cycle time of a process cannot be lower than the longest occupancy time amongst all equipment involved. When the occupancy time of an equipment resource is too long (compared to rest of the equipment) it forces a very long time between consecutive batch starts and therefore it introduces a much undesirable under-utilization of a the rest of the equipment in the process. For example, when modeling a fermentation process the fermentation itself could take a week, when all the downstream purification steps don’t take more than several hours. If we had to wait till the fermentor becomes available before we start a second batch, then clearly we couldn’t start a batch for a week at a time. Notice that while the fermentor would be busy for a week the rest of the equipment would be idle for 6+ days. To avoid such undesirable utilization of process equipment, we can request the equipment resource behind fermentation to involve 6 extra sets of units operating in staggered mode. This will reduce the ‘effective’ equipment occupancy time for the fermentation step from 7 days to 7 / (6+1) = 1 day. Now, the calculated minimum cycle time will be 1 day and by starting a batch every day we also make best use of the rest of the equipment.
You can request a staggered mode for an equipment resource from the Equipment Data Dialog: Equipment tab.
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If the number of units for an equipment is set (or calculated) to be more than one, then when turning on the staggered mode for a given equipment resource, the application must assume that for each shift of the staggered equipment there must be an equal number of units operating in parallel. Note that these extra units will add to the capital cost of the process.
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The extra staggered units will be given names constructed from the name of the original equipment plus the “STG01 >>”, “STG02 >>” prefix. If you wish to provide your own names you can do by visiting the Equipment Data Dialog: Purchase Cost Tab names dialog that is accessible from the Equipment Data Dialog: Equipment tab.
Contents
Many equipment resource types have a volume property and as such, they are capable of holding material during the execution of a unit procedure (e.g. a vessel or a Nutsche filter). When a procedure executes in such equipment, SuperPro Designer keeps track of the equipment contents before and after the execution of each operation. It is assumed that at the beginning of the batch, each such equipment holds some material (initial equipment contents). By default, the application initializes all equipment contents with the default ingredient that is initially assumed to be “Air” so that the initial amount corresponds to the specified pressure inside the vessel. The default ingredient can be changed, if desired, by right-clicking on the flowsheet and selecting } } . Moreover, the user can specify another option for initializing the contents of an equipment. Besides the default initialization, the following three alternatives are available:
1. Initial contents are directly specified by the user by providing either the composition percentages or the exact amounts of components
2. Initial contents are initialized with whatever was left by the previous simulation run
3. Initial contents are auto-initialized by copying the material contained in another equipment (in the same process file or in another process file)
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The second option (or more precisely a combination of options 1 and 2) may be useful in cases where a vessel feeds the process with material that is supposed to come from a later step in the process (in other words, there’s a recycling loop in the process). If you don’t chose to represent the feeding and receiving operations together in one procedure (thereby forcing a real loop on the flowsheet that requires iterative calculations to be solved) then, the composition and amounts of material in the equipment resource will change from simulation to simulation until they eventually converge to a final value. Furthermore, the initial amount in the vessel (to be used during the first simulation run) must be set by the user. The third option may be useful in cases where a rather large process is broken down to smaller, simpler steps each modeled as a separate process file. In that case, one may wish to initialize the contents of a given equipment that holds material at the beginning of a step, with whatever was left at the end of the previous step (through the Initial Equipment Contents: Initialization Options Dialog). Note that this linking between files can also be accomplished by associating the contents of an input stream in a flowsheet with the contents of another stream in another process file (see Auto-Initialization of Input Streams).
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The initialization option for the initial equipment contents can be specified from the Initial Equipment Contents: Initialization Options Dialog that appears when selecting } } from the procedure’s context menu. If you decide to provide your own composition and amount, then you must visit the Initial Equipment Contents (View/Edit) Dialog by selecting } } from the procedure’s context menu.
You can view the equipment contents during the execution of a procedure using the Equipment Contents Dialog that appears when you select } from the procedure’s context menu. If more than one procedures are hosted by the same equipment resource then selecting } will show the Equipment Contents Dialog displaying the contents of the equipment during the entire sequence of execution of all procedures.
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If the equipment resource is deployed by more than one number of units, the equipment contents shown indicate the amounts held collectively by all units. If the procedure is set to execute in multiple cycles, then the amounts shown before and after each operation correspond to the equipment contents after the execution of the first cycle.
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Dynamic Contents Liquid Level
The equipment contents shown in the Equipment Contents Dialog list all operations one after the other in the order specified by The Operation Sequence Dialog. Since the timing of each operation can be set by the user to match his/her own preference (from the Operations Dialog: Scheduling Tab) it is possible that an operation shown early (say 2nd in the list) doesn’t finish till the last or second to last in the queue. Even though SuperPro will produce an error if the starting time of an operation is out of order, it doesn’t complain about the end time of operations. In other words, while Op-A is shown 2nd in the operation’s queue it may be in effect for a very long time and not finish until the last or second-to-last operation in the queue is finished. Meanwhile, other operations may have started (and even finished) before it is finished. Even though it is out of the scope of SuperPro Designer to account for each operation’s simulation effects in accordance with their timing, the impact on liquid level can be easily captured and presented (as an output) to users who may deem as important. Such calculations maybe of particular importance to buffer holding tanks that could service multiple operations during the execution of a batch (or multiple batches) and as sized currently by SuperPro the calculated volume maybe quite off (on the conservative side)
From the procedure’s context menu, select } } and then there are four choices:
4. View as a Table...
5. Save in Ascii Formatted File...
6. Save in Excel Formatted File...
7. Excel Link ...
The first choice will simply show the liquid level in a table. Options #2 and #3 will prompt for a file name where the results will be included in the form of a table. The most interesting choice is #4 whereby you can define a permanent Excel link in a .xls or .xlsx file of your choosing and the results will be deposited now and updated (optionally) after every M&E balance..
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The dynamic contents liquid level feature is only available as an option in the context menu of procedures hosted by some type of vessel (reactors, fermentors, storage vessels - of any type - etc.) It is currently not available for other equipment types that may also hold contents (like Nutsche Filters).
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This option is more attractive as it allows for a permanent link that can be used to present (as a line chart) the liquid level chart in Excel, which in turn, can be pasted back into SuperPro and dynamically be updated after every M&E balance. To view this integration of SuperPro Designer with Excel, please open and study the “ContentsLevel.spf” file in the “Misc” group of examples that came with the software..
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It is very important to distinguish between the equipment volume (size) calculated by the above menu option vs the volume estimated for sizing by SuperPro Designer (which has not changed and it still uses the sequential (one-after-another) effect on liquid contents (and thus vessel volume demand) by the operations included in a procedure. The latter, is more accurate and less conservative in its volume estimation since it is based on aggregate effect of multiple operations timed to execute simultaneously: e.g., we can list initially in the operation step a steady transfer in of buffer at a constant, medium rate; then list 3-4 draws to service buffer requirements in several wash operations. Even though the initial fill amount will be calculated to service all four draws that follow, in reality since the draws will initiate (and some even finish) while the draw is still ongoing, the vessel’s volume does NOT have to be large enough to hold the ENTIRE initial amount of fill (which is what SuperPro will be basing its sizing).
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Local Receptacle & Automatic Emptying of Contents
Since equipment resources can be reused in the span of a single batch, most of the times the follow up procedures utilizing an equipment resource do not expect to find any material in it. To make sure that when a procedure takes over the use of an equipment resource it never inherits any contents from the previous procedure (regardless of settings or conditions during the execution of the operations in the previous procedure), then you must activate the automatic emptying of contents feature. When this equipment feature is turned on, before a unit procedure engages the equipment, a check is being made: if any liquid material is found as leftover from the previous procedure that utilized the equipment, it is removed and placed in a local receptacle (not shown on the interface). If the same conditions exist before the second reuse of the equipment, then the liquid leftovers after the second use will also be emptied (and mixed) to the local receptacle.
The activation or deactivation of the automatic emptying before reuse of the equipment can be made from the Empty Contents Before Reuse Dialog that appears when selecting the } } option from any procedure (that uses the equipment) command menu. From the same dialog, the user will also have the chance to classify the waste as well as provide a disposal cost and (if needed) a collection storage unit.
After the conclusion of the M&E balance calculations, you can view the contents of an equipment’s receptacle by selecting } } from any procedure (hosted by the equipment) command menu.
Purchase Cost
A very important component of the economic expenditure especially for new (green field) projects, is the total capital cost for the equipment necessary to carry out the process. SuperPro Designer has built-in models that estimate the cost for each equipment type based on its size variable. As some of the formulas used for the cost estimate have been given to us by manufacturers we do not publish them. However, if you do not agree with the program’s estimates, you can either provide a fixed value for the specific (as sized) equipment or supply your own cost vs size model that will be used to estimate the cost given the value of the sizing parameter. We call this model the User-Defined Cost Model or UDCM for short.
If you have allocated the equipment resource to a database equipment, see Allocation, then its purchase cost is read from the database and no other choice exists for its estimation.
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All built-in models for cost estimation produce the cost in US$ at a given year. The cost is brought up to the project’s date by adjusting for inflation using the published Chemical Engineering Index. When specifying your own UDCM you also need to specify the year for which the estimates are valid. If the project year is different then the costs will be adjusted the same way.
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The User-Defined Cost Model (UDCM)
This model can be provided by a user as a cost vs size correlation that will be used by the application to estimate the cost of a piece of a equipment if the built-in model produces unacceptable results.
The general formula used for the model is a power-law type: C = Co (Q/Qo)a
where, (Co, Qo) is a pair of reference size and cost, and a is an exponent (usually less than 1).
The user is supposed to provide the triplet of (Co, Qo and a) as well as a range of size values (Q) where the triplet of values generates a valid estimate. Note that if it is not possible to have a single triplet of values for the entire range of expected sizes (Q), then you can divide the entire range into smaller segments and provide a different set of triplet for each range. Please note that the variable used to feed the cost vs size UDCM is fixed for a given type of equipment resource. The units can be changed but will always be of the same units type as the variable. For example, for vessels the size is expected to be the volume of the vessel in volume units; for a plate-and-frame filter, the UDCM is supposed to estimate the cost as a function of the filter area in area units. Also, it is assumed that the cost estimate is in currency that is (at the time) selected as the chosen currency for the current process file (see Currency). As part of the UDCM definition, the user is supposed to provide a year for which the cost estimate is valid. SuperPro Designer will update the cost to the current year that the project is carried out by using the chemical engineering index to account for inflation.
User-defined cost models may be also imported from the database. These UDCMs have been either defined in the User-Defined Equipment Cost Model Databank or were first introduced in equipment of the process and then deposited into the database for safe keeping and/or for re-use in other equipment of the same type.
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When specifying the UDCM for an equipment resource, it only applies for the specific resource used in that process step (unit procedure). It does not replace the cost estimation option used for all equipment (of similar type) employed by your process. If you wish to use the same cost model for all equipment of the same type, then you must either specify the same model in all other equipment present in your process (one-by-one), or specify the UDCM in the first instance of the equipment and then copy-and-paste the procedure/equipment pair before you use it elsewhere in your process. Additionally you may also deposit the UDCM from an equipment in the database and then import it back into the process to which ever equipment of the same type it is needed.
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For more information on the user-defined cost model interface see User-Defined Cost Model (UDCM) Dialog. Also all of the above choices and parameters including the UDCM interface can be viewed and/or edited through the Equipment Data Dialog: Purchase Cost Tab.
Cost Adjustments
After the base purchase cost for the equipment is estimated there are several other equipment parameters that can affect either the final purchase cost of the equipment or other aspects of the direct fixed capital (DFC) of the section that the equipment belongs (e.g. installation), or even the facility component of the operating cost.
Purchase Cost Adjustments
Material Factor: The base purchase cost is estimated assuming a default material of construction (the actual material may vary from equipment to equipment but typically it is SS316). To adjust for construction requirement with special needs, other materials and material construction factors can be defined for a given equipment type. If you wish to introduce a new material of construction along with its material factor you should visit the Equipment Materials Databank (seeEquipment Materials Databank). The material factor is supposed to scale the cost up or down in relation to the base cost. If no material factor exists for one of the existing materials (or even if it exists but you wish to overwrite it), then you can specify a value in the Equipment Data Dialog: Adjustments Tab.
Standby Units: For pieces of equipment that can be critical for the operation of the process, you may choose to have one or more extra pieces as standby (in case the regularly used pieces of equipment go down for scheduled or un-scheduled maintenance). The extra units are assumed to be of the same size (and cost) as the main units.
Installation Factor: It is used to provide an estimate for the installation cost as a multiple of the purchase cost.
PC Portion Allocated to This Project: If the equipment participating in this process may be purchased with the intention to be shared by other projects, then it is customary for the equipment purchase cost burden to be split between the two (or more) projects. Any value less than 100% will reduce the capital cost contribution of this equipment resource to the section’s DFC. Note that any PC-derived quantities (such as installation or maintenance) will still be using the full value of purchase cost.
Operating Cost Adjustments
Maintenance Cost Factor: A multiplier to be used in conjunction with the equipment’s capital cost to estimate annual maintenance.
Usage & Availability Rates: If the facility component of the operating cost is estimated directly from usage & availability rates, then these factors will provide the charges associated with this equipment. Note that usage rate is based on the actual occupancy time of the equipment, whereas the availability rate multiplies the entire time the equipment is dedicated to this process (and therefore it includes idle time).
Portion of PC Already Depreciated: This factor if set to anything other than 0, reduces the portion of the equipment’s PC that will be used to estimate the annual depreciation. It should be noted that this factor will only affect the amount of depreciation calculated and not the actual contribution to the DFC due to this equipment. Furthermore, any PC-dependent quantities (like installation, maintenance etc.) will still be based on the full value of purchase cost.
All of the above variables are viewed and/or edited through the Equipment Data Dialog: Adjustments Tab.
Consumables
Consumables are items that are used by equipment in the process for few times and then they are disposed. Examples of consumables may be filter cartridges, chromatography resins, etc. Some equipment need to have such consumables present so that they function properly. These consumables are called required consumables and the equipment types that need them have dedicated variables (and interface) that lets the user view their properties (type, replacement rates, etc.). On the other hand, every equipment has the potential of being assigned the consumption of some generic consumable that may be needed in a given situation. For example, some machinery may require frequent lubrication (e.g. grinders) or cleaning power. If you need to employ a particular consumable that is not currently available, then you must first introduce it in the Consumables databank through the Consumables Databank Dialog. After the consumable has been defined, then you can associate it and define its usage rate to a specific equipment from the Equipment Data Dialog: Consumables Tab. A key variable needed for each consumable use associated with an equipment resource is the consumption rate (how much of the consumable is needed per use) and the replacement frequency (how often the consumable is disposed of). Once a consumable is specified for some equipment in your process file, that consumable will also be included in the Consumables Currently Used by the Process Dialog for that file. As prices of consumables tend to fluctuate in time, if your company regularly updates their prices in the ‘SuperPro (User)’ database, you may decide to bring all consumable prices in your SuperPro Designer model up-to-date. This can be easily done by invoking the Update Resource Prices from SuperPro (User) DB Dialog (select } from the main menu of the application).
If at any time the user wishes to change the Consumable used in the process with another consumable, instead of visiting all the locations the consumable is used and replacing it, the Replace Resources Dialog can be used to perform a global switch of resource(s) with another resource(s).
Allocation
Equipment resources in a process can be allocated to site equipment or they can simply be matched to a vendor equipment (equipment spec sheet). Allocating an equipment resource is essentially a commitment to use for the given resource an actual piece of equipment (owned or leased) that is available in a manufacturing site. Having equipment resources bound to either site equipment or vendor equipment provides the benefit of consistency across different process representations within a corporation.
Matching an equipment to a vendor’s equipment specification sheet (aka vendor equipment) is essentially a commitment to use the specific vendor as source and the specific vendor’s model when the time comes to purchase the equipment unit(s) needed for the given equipment resource. If a company always prefers to use a certain line of dead-end filters from a given vendor, then all engineers that employ dead-end filters in their process description can match such equipment resources to the specification sheet with size that matches the need of their process and from then on, the actual size and cost, as well as all other specifications included in the equipment spec sheet, will be shown precisely as expected. Optionally, the specification data in a vendor’s equipment specification sheet can be retrieved directly from the manufacturer’s equipment specification sheet. Vendor and manufacturer equipment specification sheets can be introduced (and made available to all users of SuperPro Designer) through the supplied equipment spec sheets databank dialog (see Equipment Spec Sheets Databank Dialog). Vendors and manufacturers can be introduced through the equipment suppliers databank dialog (see Equipment Suppliers Databank Dialog)
Descriptions of manufacturing sites along with resources that may contain (equipment, heat transfer agents, labor, etc.) can also exist in the user’s database in the form of database sites, (see Sites & Resources Databank Dialog). Once again, once those sites are populated, other users of the application can allocate the resources employed in their process simulations to the database objects to ensure consistency.
Regardless of whether you chose to match an equipment resource to a vendor equipment or allocate the equipment resource to a site equipment, once the connection is made, then all size properties (e.g. volume, diameter, height etc.) and the purchase cost of the equipment is read from the database and ‘frozen’ in your process description. If you visit the equipment data dialog, the first tab (‘Equipment’) will show the description of the equipment (on the right-hand side) with all the size fields frozen. Also, the sizing option for the equipment (shown on the left side of the same tab) will always show as rating mode and also frozen (so you are not able to switch to design mode).
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The option for allocating an equipment resource to a site equipment is only available if the process section that the specific equipment resource belongs, has been already allocated to a database site.
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To allocate a section to a database site, you must visit the Section Properties Dialog: Allocation tab. To allocate an equipment resource to a site equipment, you must visit the Equipment Data Dialog: Allocation Tab.
Suppliers, Specification Sheets & Specification Variables
Process equipment in a SuperPro Designer process can be matched to an equipment specification sheet from a vendor as stored in the database. In order for a company to make consistent use of equipment throughout its organization, the program lets you define in the ‘SuperPro (User)’ database a list of equipment suppliers (vendors and manufacturers) and supplied equipment specification sheets (from vendors and manufacturers) that are the preferred choices for the organization.
When you add a new equipment specification sheet from a vendor or manufacturer, you need to enter identification, specification and cost data regarding the new equipment specification sheet. If the equipment specification sheet is from a vendor, you may optionally get the specification data directly from the manufacturer’s equipment specification sheet (if one exists in the database) by linking the new vendor equipment specification sheet to an existing manufacturer equipment specification sheet.
However, for you own documentation and in order for your users to understand better the choices available, you may want to describe a supplier equipment specification sheet with more attributes than the default specification data provided. SuperPro Designer allows you to introduce your own (new) set of attributes and attach them with their appropriate values to your supplied equipment specification records. For example, you may want to describe the type of automation or the type of instrumentation included in a given model, or the time availability for certain models.
To introduce new suppliers and equipment specification sheets, as well as new equipment specification variables, you must visit the Equipment Suppliers Databank Dialog, the Equipment Spec Sheets Databank Dialog, and the Equipment Types & Specifications Dialog, respectively.
Type Categories
Whenever you view equipment types in SuperPro Designer, they are always organized in groups. Each group contains a set of equipment types that are of some common nature. You can view the all equipment types currently recognized by the application when browsing the equipment types databank (} ). Similar organization of equipment types exists in the equipment tab of the Process Explorer Toolbar. The same set of groups appears as top nodes in the equipment prefix customization tab (Application Settings Dialog: Prefixes tab). The same tree-like organization appears when selecting an equipment type in the site-equipment databank (select menu } } ) or vendor-equipment databank (select menu } } ).